Yasiel Puig dazzles as Dodgers take series from the Arizona Diamondbacks

Los Angeles Dodgers' Yasiel Puig, right, points to the sky as Carl Crawford, center, and Adrian Gonzalez look on after hitting a three-run home run during the sixth inning of a baseball game against the Arizona Diamondbacks, Sunday, April 20, 2014, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)

Yasiel Puig said he understood the strategy, even describing it as “a good call” after the game.

Deep down, one could tell the dazzling Dodgers outfielder took extra satisfaction in foiling the Arizona Diamondbacks’ strategy of intentionally walking Adrian Gonzalez to pitch to him in the sixth inning.

Puig crushed an 0-1 fastball from Arizona pitcher Josh Collmenter over the left-center wall for a three-run homer in the Dodgers’ 4-1 victory over the Diamondbacks on Easter Sunday, helping L.A. take the weekend series and beat Arizona for the seventh time in eight meetings this season.

Puig did his customary bat flip as soon as he hit the ball, much to the joy of the announced crowd of 37,447.

The lesson? Perhaps it is best not to give more motivation to Puig.

“It felt great hitting the ball so hard,” Puig said through Dodgers translator Yvonne Carrasco. “It felt good to see that strength in my swing that my coaches and trainers have been helping me with.

“(Arizona) did what they had to do. Adrian is a left-handed hitter and the pitcher was a right-hander. The manager made a good call on that one.”

Dodgers manager Don Mattingly said Arizona manager Kirk Gibson’s decision to intentionally walk Gonzalez — who had already extended his hitting streak to 15 games with a double down the right-field line in the second inning — was the right call.

“I think you have to with the way Adrian is swinging and the way Adrian hit them last week,” Mattingly said. “Gibby would probably do it every time. The problem is you give extra motivation to the next guy, but it is a decision you have to make.

“I was just hoping Yasiel got it up high enough.”

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Juan Uribe, a Dodgers team leader, said Puig played with the right mindset in that situation.

“I don’t know what he was thinking, but if someone does that to me, I like it,” Uribe said. “Puig did good. He did good for the team.”

Puig is often synonymous with spectacular moments — both positive and negative.

At times, Puig demonstrates his five tools are among the most splendid in the game. Other times, his immaturity and flair serve as a reminder that he is a youthful 23-year-old who has had the weight of the world on his shoulders since his daring escape from Cuba two years ago that recently came to light.

The home run Sunday was not the only dazzling Puig play of the game.

In the second inning, Puig cut down Diamondbacks catcher Miguel Montero on what looked to be a certain double down the right-field line in the second inning. Puig raced to the corner, scooped up the ball, whirled and fired a laser to shortstop Hanley Ramirez just ahead of Montero, which seemed to settle down starter Josh Beckett.

He certainly Puiged it.

“Obviously he did the right thing in trying to get the extra base. Anyone who hits it that far down right field probably expects they can make that play,” Puig said. “As it turned out, I got him there.”

So which play did Puig get more excited about?

“The two plays are great. I don’t want to say that I get all the credit for winning today’s game, but obviously if I did not hit that home run, that was a big difference,” Puig said. “But both were crucial.”

Beckett praised Puig and the throw.

“He’s unbelievable,” Beckett said. “Just the aggressive nature of that play. There’s a million things that would happen if I was playing right field in that situation. He just goes over, picks the ball up and confidently throws a strike to second.”

Though Beckett did not factor into the decision, he delivered his second straight start in which he pitched five scoreless innings despite needing IV fluids like Andre Ethier to combat a severe head cold that is hitting the team.

Beckett allowed just one hit and had seven strikeouts and no walks, but came out after five innings and 83 pitches.

“He just ran out of gas,” Mattingly said. “But that’s two good outings in a row with him. We’re going to keep building with him.”

Diamondbacks starter Josh Collmenter matched zeroes for Beckett through the first five innings.

The Dodgers finally got to Collmenter (0-2) in the sixth inning, thanks to the speed of Dee Gordon and Carl Crawford atop the order, and the raw power of Puig.

Gordon laced a one-out single to right field and then was a distraction on the basepaths.

With Gordon running on the pitch, Crawford drilled a triple to the right-field corner, easily scoring Gordon with the first run of the game.

Then came Puig’s big sequence.

“That was a big by Carl and a big hit by Yasiel,” Mattingly said.

Jamey Wright (1-0) earned the victory, allowing one run, one hit and one walk in one-plus innings of relief. Chris Perez delivered the Dodgers from Wright’s mini-jam in the seventh and pitched 1 1/3 effective innings, though he allowed Martin Prado’s RBI double to score Paul Goldschmidt for a run that was charged to Wright.

J.P. Howell retired two of the three batters he faced in the eighth to hand the ball off to Kenley Jansen in the ninth.

Jansen in turn recorded his seventh save in nine chances, striking out the side in an overwhelming and confidence-boosting 1-2-3 inning.

“That was good for Kenley,” Mattingly said. “We’ve had to use him a lot, but he seems to get stronger as the season goes on.”